CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the rapidly emerging field of cancer metabolism, today announced the appointment of John Maraganore, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Maraganore is the CEO of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and is the first independent director of Agios.
“We are thrilled to welcome John, whose leadership at the cutting edge of science and medicine is unparalleled,” said David Schenkein, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, Agios. “John’s experience in building young, dynamic companies and developing novel therapeutics will serve as a critical resource for Agios as we translate the exciting research emerging from the Agios platform into important medicines for patients with cancer and other diseases.”
“Agios has built the industry-leading platform in cancer metabolism, integrating deep biology, metabolomics technologies, and a network of the leading minds in the field,” said Dr. Maraganore. “The company is at an important inflection point as it dramatically increases the scope and pace of its drug discovery programs, research initiatives, and technology development. I look forward to contributing to these efforts and working with the great team at Agios to discover important new medicines for patients.”
Dr. Maraganore joined Alnylam in 2002. Prior to Alnylam he served as an officer and a member of the management team for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was responsible for the company's product franchises in oncology, cardiovascular, inflammation, and metabolic diseases. Before Millennium, he worked in molecular biology and business development at Biogen, Inc. (now Biogen Idec Inc.), where he invented and led the discovery and development of Angiomax™. Prior to Biogen, Dr. Maraganore was a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc., and The Upjohn Company. Dr. Maraganore received his M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Maraganore is Chairman of Regulus Therapeutics Inc., and a Director for Archemix Corp., Taligen Therapeutics, Inc., and Tempero Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He is also a member of the Biotechnology Industry Organization Board.
About Cancer Metabolism
Cancer metabolism is a new and exciting field of biology that provides a novel approach to treating cancer. Cancer cell metabolism is marked by profound changes in nutrient requirements and usage to ensure cell proliferation and survival. Research in the field has demonstrated that cancer cells become addicted to certain fuel sources and metabolic pathways. In cancer, this metabolic reprogramming is coordinated with proliferative signaling and regulated by the same oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes to ensure efficient proliferation. Glycolysis (sugar metabolism), fatty acid metabolism and autophagy (self metabolism) are three pathways shown to play a critical role in cancer metabolism. Identifying and disrupting certain enzymes in these, and perhaps other, metabolic pathways provides a powerful intervention point for discovery and development of cancer therapeutics.
About Agios Pharmaceuticals
Agios Pharmaceuticals is the first biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics in the emerging field of cancer metabolism. To support and drive these efforts, Agios is building a robust platform integrating cancer biology, metabolomics, biochemistry and informatics to enable target and biomarker identification. Agios’ capabilities to interrogate differential cellular metabolism of diseased cells relative to normal cells may also be applicable to other therapeutics areas including autoimmune, inflammatory and neurological diseases. To date, Agios has put in place a world-class scientific team of more than 60 people, built a fully integrated cell metabolism platform within the largest research laboratory dedicated to cancer metabolism, and created an emerging product development pipeline of novel cancer therapeutics. The Company’s founders represent the core thought leaders in the field of cancer metabolism, responsible for key advances, insights and discoveries in the field. Agios Pharmaceuticals is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.agios.com.
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KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Biotechnology Oncology Pharmaceutical
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